In today’s time and age life is unimaginable without social media says actor-tarot reader-astrologer Munisha Khatwani. The importance and relevance of social media is increasing every day given the way it help us stay abreast as to what is happening around us and also connects us to the entire world. And, there are both good and bad in the big social media world. Khatwani talks about how she looks at social media and uses it, the positives and negatives of it in the following conversation:
Social media has revolutionised our life, especially that of celebs. What are your views?
Yes and that isn’t bad. Unlike what many might feel that actors are shying away from being responsible while taking stands, there are many who are using their social media correctly. The fact that they are influencing people positively, making them happy and guiding them well is making a lot of difference. What some of these actors are doing is exactly what is expected out of social influencers. But there are many people who are misusing social media because they feel that they can do or say anything they want to. I am not in favour of that but I also feel that you really can’t control much of what people do with their personal account, so it is up to the viewers to use his or her discretion and decide what they want to take in or reject.
Throw some light on the positive side of the social media?
The positive side of social media is that if something good or bad is happening out there in the world you get to know about it immediately. I think it’s really important because when you get to know about everything happening around you it prepares you well. These days social media platforms have become the best possible way to stay connected with people and is the strongest form of communication. The fact that you can connect with someone sitting at another part of the world makes it all more useful.
People follow actors and try and emulate everything they do. So is there an added pressure of expectation to behave in a certain way?
Yes but then that’s why you are a social influencer. If you are natural and true to yourself that is enough. But there are a lot of fake things that are happening on social media platforms. I have learnt to ignore them. If something isn’t genuine, it does not interest me. But since a lot of this world has become fake I feel we should keep our sanity intact and go with the flow.
The number of followers has become an obsession with almost every actor. Whether they accept it or not, given the competitive scenario they are trying their best to add on to the numbers. Comment.
You are judged by the number of followers you have. And to stay in the race many have been buying fake followers along with buying likes and views. I think the most authentic is when you have organic followers as that means these people admire your genuinely and won’t leave you for anything. So I have almost reached 300K. Mine has been build up over a period of time. It did not happen overnight. Also these fake followers won’t be active on your page, it’s just a number that shows up on your profile.
The world of social media is fake everyone says so but at the same time everyone is also vying for attention on the space. Would you call it double standard?
Of course it is. I would say it’s a double-edged sword. Tum karoge to bhi pachtaoge nahi karoge to bhi pachtaoge. If you are on social media and you want to be active on it then people will judge you and even if you are not active on it people will still judge you. I mostly use it mostly for my work, and focus on it when I know it is going to benefit me. It’s a great way to stay connected to the people and I’ve been using it positively.
Social media it seems has become an ego massage tool and even it is disturbing the regular lifestyle of actors, they are losing sleep everyday thinking what should I post?
People at times take it a bit too seriously as to what they want to post on Twitter, Instagram or facebook etc. I don’t think you should take so much stress about what to post. Just be natural and follow your heart. You should definitely post something that’s going to benefit you, something that says about your life, hobbies and spread positivity. I post about my friends, family, Tarot, astrology, my shows, my salon etc. And I try and use social media to my benefit but not at the cost of hurting anyone’s feelings or sentiments.
Which celebrities do you follow regularly on social media ?
I am more connected to what’s happening in our industry. I follow all my friends and mostly all the top celebrities of TV and Bollywood. I follow very few international artistes.
